With our markedly diminished “inventory” of homes available for sale in Miami … buyers find themselves (more often than they’d like!) bidding against one another for real estate.

Unless your offer is trumped by another bidder, or you are the only offer on the table, you may find yourself competitively bidding for a house, even when you’re offering full price. And then it’s up to the seller to choose which offer to take. So, how do you get the seller to pick YOU over another similar offer from buyer #2 or #3?

It’s common now to get multiple offers on a property … very similar to one another … and often full price. If one offer is stronger than another, that’s likely the winner, but when there are multiple nearly identical offers, the details may well determine the winner.

If you want to WIN the house …. make sure you have a good agent. A well prepared offer can weigh in considerably above a poorly prepared or haphazardly written one. And the reputation of the agent and/or the real estate company can also influence a seller’s decision.

A seller with any doubts as to which offer to work with will look to his/her listing agent and ask for their two cents worth. And because that listing agent will have read through your offer (and opened the house for you … and met and talked with you… and likely knows your Realtor) there’s alot that listing agent can share with the seller …. and that personal aspect can weigh the scales. Selling a house is not just dollars and cents. It’s personal and intricate…. and interconnected.

I’m writing this because we received more than one offer on a property we recently listed for sale. Each offer was very similar – and each was solid. I’d met each of the buyers… knew their Realtors … knew their stories … and knew how much each of them wanted the house. They all really liked that house … they were all pre-qualified … with lenders lined up … and were working with reputable agents. So when my seller looked at me and asked which offer to go with … all I could do was tell their stories, who they were, what they did, the names of their kids and parents, and why they were moving … and how much each loved the house. And as we went over each of the almost identical offers together.. what set them apart was how the offer itself was presented..

One was meticulous. It had the correct folio number, the right seller’s name, the right address, all the necessary addendum, correct time-frames… no typos … no BIG errors. And that offer won out over the others because it was well prepared, from a reputable company and by a professional agent.

You put your trust in a real estate agent and presume they’ll look out for your best interest. Hopefully you are … and you’re working with someone who is knowledgeable and will be meticulous about presenting and negotiating your offer.

Of three almost identical offers that we received, one had 18 errors and/or omissions … What a handicap that is for a buyer… and the buyer probably has no idea whatsoever because what buyer is going to know that the folio number or the seller’s name on the offer they signed is wrong… or that a house built before 1978 requires a lead based paint addendum … or that the time-frames specified for inspections and loan commitment meant the closing couldn’t possibly occur two weeks after offer was submitted?

I’m writing this because we got multiple full-price offers we got on a property … and the difference in how the offers were put together made a huge difference in the sellers eyes, and ultimately determined who won. If I were a buyer putting in a full price offer on a house, I’d want to know why mine wasn’t chosen … and why I had to start from scratch over and over …. especially because it was a situation that repeated itself. Any one of the ‘rejected offers’ could have won, had they been properly written . Your number one weapon is the agent you’re working with.

And if you’re not already working with someone … and need a good agent … we would love to work with you and help you find (and get!) the right home. Vicki and Alexandra Restivo – EWM Realtors, International [email protected] 305 793-1365